Orbán: Hungary’s stand successfully defended at EPP meeting – UPDATE

Brussels, April 29 (MTI) – Hungary’s stand was successfully defended at a meeting of the European People’s Party in Brussels on Saturday, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said after a summit of EU leaders that followed the EPP meeting.

The matter of the Central European University (CEU) will proceed on its own legal course, Orbán said. Nobody can impose conditions on Hungary, he added.

This is a legal question that the European Commission (EC) and Hungary will negotiate in the coming months, he said. Hungary will fully implement the agreement reached during these talks, he told a press conference.

Commenting on a visit by CEU founder George Soros to Brussels to meet EU leaders, Orbán said “there are some who wish to hurt Hungary, and there are others whose job is to defend the country”.

Support in Hungary for the country’s EU membership is bigger than anywhere else, and the government has played a role in this result, Orbán said. Hungary’s government is pro-European, he added.

At the same time, the government will not give up its view that the EU is run poorly and must be reformed, he said. An open debate and talks must be conducted on this matter, he added.

There are some issues that present a danger to Hungarians, such as migration and the EC’s initiative to do away with utilities price cuts, Orbán said.

The “Let’s Stop Brussels” consultation is not anti-Brussels or anti-Europe, rather Hungary wants the scope of authority of the member states and of Brussels to remain unchanged, he said.

UPDATE

In response to the EPP meeting, the opposition Socialists said that “Viktor Orbán has put Hungary to shame and got stuck in his own spiral of lies”. The party said in a statement that “Viktor Orban suffered a defeat and it was not the first time that he was forced to lay down the arms”.

The Democratic Coalition said the EPP “called on the carpet” Viktor Orbán who had ultimately lost all of his “allies”. The party said it welcomed that “the EPP has started to understand that Viktor Orbán is not only destroying his country, but poses a danger to the European Union as well”.